br>Finally after years of moving gear around, getting my setup tight and pairing things down, I just bought a RE 201.
I have a few delays and in my eyes, one can never have too many delays. The El Capistan and Timeline are rad and reliable to travel with and GREAT at what they do.

I have 2 weeks before the 201 gets here and I had a few questions for some of you folks who had/ have one.
Can I use both mic inputs as instrument inputs? Say if I had a monomachine going into mic input one, and another synth in mic input two and then a drum machine going into the instrument in?

I know I can use the aux sends and returns coming from my mixer but I wondered about the mic inputs.
I chose the 201 because of its grittiness and I dig the 301 ( which has 3 instrument inputs) but had to get the 201, the feedback is one of my favorites about it.

So has anyone else used the mic inputs as instrument inputs? I guess it couldn't hurt, right? I plan on running allot through it and who recordings as well to get some of that grit...
Overall I am just curious about the different ways people have used theirs or any interesting experiments that have been done or recorded.
Thanks all....eddy br> br>

br>flo

br>Congrats! Very nice machine

Yeah you can use the two mic and the instrument inputs simultaneously, it just mixes them together.

I sometimes use the mic inputs to distort synths, I find it very pleasant. Could be a bit fiddly with all three inputs used if you want clean sound (well, to the point that it's possible on a tape echo at least).

If you want it in a send/return loop (i.e. wet only), you need to use the "From P.A." input, not one of the direct inputs. Strange implementation, but it's ok once you know it.

The tape obviously makes a ton of a difference in sound. Also, you really need to keep the thing clean in order to keep it working as good as possible.

If you want I could link to some tracks on my soundcloud where I used it extensively...

Cheers! br> br>

br>Indigo333

br>Thanks Flo I am soooo stoked, this thing is on my list with an MS 20 and some old Oberhiems. Someday, I look forward to having a few of these stacked, such a distinct sound.
Thanks for your reply and for the info about the mic inputs, this will help tons because the distortion and feedback is what I am mainly after.
Yeah man, I would dig hearing some stuff you did with yours...please.

I have been reading up on the care and maintenance for a minute. Since I got this refurburished and totally serviced, it appears I will only need to keep the heads clean and change the tape along with the areas that the tape touched. I will look more into this of course
Best- eddy br> br>

br>flo

br>You're welcome!

Here are some tunes with the RE201 used very apparently:

In this one, it makes virtually all the groove of the bassline (303) and is also used on the lead (MS20). You'll hear some feedback sometimes throughout the track and on the lead I was also wiggling around with the speed knob:

br>That is the exact one I was talking about...thanks a ton Building br> br>

br>flo

br>

Indigo333 wrote:

Thanks Flo!
I really liked the beginning to electric infinite, the ambience is rad. Good looking out man

Thanks dude!

Let's see what we have in there in terms of synths... The RE201 is on almost anything IIRC.

The noise is white noise through the MS10, exploiting the uberkill distortion when the input gain on the MS10 is all the way up. The arpey sequence is a 303. Pad is JU60. Lead / Bass is MS20. The high ringing bell thingie is an Andromeda. And that's about all I guess...

Cheers! br> br>

br>DonaldCrunk

br>im lucky enough to have a very nice 201 and i find myself using it on everything as well. when you get the unit, be sure the brassy pieces with the felt are providing correct tension on the tape. if the tape is loose, it results in very low volume repeats. that happened to me upon initial reception of the unit, i carefully bent the piece to the correct position.

also remember that if you use the mic/instrument input, your delayed sound may be quieter than you expect - the wet / dry mix maxes out at around 50/50 via the "echo volume" knob. many use the aux send / from pa method because of this.

love the preamp, it is such a great flavor to put on any synth. spring reverb is great, obviously the delay sounds great. im on about 1 year of use on a tape, its starting to sound pretty wobbly as it decays. obviously remember to turn it off when not in use, and other than that enjoy one of the best spacial effects units ever made! br> br>

br>filmersam

br>My motor just stopped working today, it had been making some rumbling noises due to worn out bearings. Be ready to fork out for repairs - unless you're confident and have the right tools. br> br>

br>dkcg

br>

filmersam wrote:

My motor just stopped working today, it had been making some rumbling noises due to worn out bearings. Be ready to fork out for repairs - unless you're confident and have the right tools.

Tony Krank rebuilt the motor on my RE301 for around $250 or so. When I talked to him he said that rebuilding motors isn't a problem, he can get the bearings, but the heads are another story, no cure for worn or dead heads. I know there's somewhere in the UK that services these, as well as Orbit electronics in the US (Tony's shop), and I could have sworn I came across a place in Australia that services them, but not positive, I could be mistaken about Aus.

My motor just stopped working today, it had been making some rumbling noises due to worn out bearings. Be ready to fork out for repairs - unless you're confident and have the right tools.

Tony Krank rebuilt the motor on my RE301 for around $250 or so. When I talked to him he said that rebuilding motors isn't a problem, he can get the bearings, but the heads are another story, no cure for worn or dead heads. I know there's somewhere in the UK that services these, as well as Orbit electronics in the US (Tony's shop), and I could have sworn I came across a place in Australia that services them, but not positive, I could be mistaken about Aus.

enjoy the 201! the Space Echo is easily one of my favorite pieces of gear, unquestionably my favorite fx unit.

br> br>

br>filmersam

br>Luke @ Synth Service Melbourne is my goto for all repairs, he can just about do anything. Very knowledgable and super friendly- besides his expertise in synth repair he'll fix the shit out of your space echo! He's currently riddling my SH101 with patch points br> br>

br>Indigo333

br>

DonaldCrunk wrote:

im lucky enough to have a very nice 201 and i find myself using it on everything as well. when you get the unit, be sure the brassy pieces with the felt are providing correct tension on the tape. if the tape is loose, it results in very low volume repeats. that happened to me upon initial reception of the unit, i carefully bent the piece to the correct position.

also remember that if you use the mic/instrument input, your delayed sound may be quieter than you expect - the wet / dry mix maxes out at around 50/50 via the "echo volume" knob. many use the aux send / from pa method because of this.

love the preamp, it is such a great flavor to put on any synth. spring reverb is great, obviously the delay sounds great. im on about 1 year of use on a tape, its starting to sound pretty wobbly as it decays. obviously remember to turn it off when not in use, and other than that enjoy one of the best spacial effects units ever made!

I will have to mess with it and see, the mic in is great for loud and distorted delay and sounds... I love the preamp and thats why I went with the 201 instead of the 301 or 501
Also thanks for the tip on the brass pieces and (correct)tape tension br> br>

br>animalman

br>I love mine. Yeah maxing the input of the mic inputs is my favorite guitar overdrive!
Though the reverb ain't all that. Too small tank, with 3 springs in Z formation. More of the tiled bathroom sound than splashy surf reverb.
Cool trick if you want 100% wet sound is putting a 1/4" dummy plug in the "from PA" input. br> br>

br>comradejames858

br>I use a 201 and 501 very regularly and I can't imagine ever stopping. I love them. The sos feature on the 501 adds such a human touch on any sequence going into it, and the feedback on the 201 can be very fun. Enjoy br> br>

br>Shipatsea

br>Tony Krank at orbitelectronix.com sells the best tape loops. Work great in my 501 br> br>

br>dcicci

br>I have to control myself or else I would use my 201 on everything ever. Favorite piece of gear. br> br>

br>huffnPuff

br>Do you feel the need to use a buffer or gain pedal before the RE-201 when using a guitar with passive pickups?I noticed that when I feed my Tele directly into the intrument or mic input there's an audible treble loss at the 201's preamp (i.e. regardless of whether the tape echo is actually engaged).

I have a clean boost that fixes this. At first I thought I needed to crank up the volume (the preamp overdrives beautifully) but today I noticed that it sounds much better even in low volume settings.

Is the 201's preamp loading the pickups on my guitar? Does yours behave the same way? br> br>

br>Shrigg

br>

Indigo333 wrote:

Thanks Flo I am soooo stoked, this thing is on my list with an MS 20 and some old Oberhiems. Someday, I look forward to having a few of these stacked, such a distinct sound.
Thanks for your reply and for the info about the mic inputs, this will help tons because the distortion and feedback is what I am mainly after.
Yeah man, I would dig hearing some stuff you did with yours...please.

I have been reading up on the care and maintenance for a minute. Since I got this refurburished and totally serviced, it appears I will only need to keep the heads clean and change the tape along with the areas that the tape touched. I will look more into this of course
Best- eddy

I have an Xpander that needs a little work... Debating wether to have the work done before selling or sell it as is (with full disclosure). Decisions, decisions... br> br>

br>PrimateSynthesis

br>

huffnPuff wrote:

Is the 201's preamp loading the pickups on my guitar?

Yes, the input impedance is way lower than the input of a guitar amp. br> br>